School suspensions and exclusions in England have fallen for the sixth year running but still see a daily average of 878 children taken out of class for abuse or assault on fellow pupils or teachers.

Education groups are concerned that the level of violence, which leads to the permanent exclusion of 13 students a day, suggests a continuing failure to recognise special educational needs (SEN) among persistent offenders.

The figures also prompted warnings that government plans to remove the right of independent appeal tribunals to order the reinstatement of expelled pupils may be an over-reaction. The Advisory Centre for Education, which handles many appeals, said: "The evidence is there to suggest that alternatives to exclusion and school partnerships to improve behaviour have contributed to this fall."

Department for Education figures show students were suspended on 166,900 occasions in 2010 for assault or abuse, with 2,460 expulsions. The data includes 1,210 suspensions and 20 permanent exclusions of children under five, where timely SEN intervention is seen as crucial and usually effective.

The statistics coincide with separate forecasts from the department predicting an extra half million pupils in English state primary schools and nurseries by 2018. The 12% increase to 4.35 million, a total last seen in the 1970s, will add to stress on buildings, staff and pupils, with the highest rises in inner-city catchments.

An average 5% fall in the number of students aged 15 and under at secondary schools will give some slack, but a department spokesman said the figures showed the need to target funds.

He said: "We know that many schools across the country already face real concerns about how to provide every child with a school place when in some areas, school places far outweigh rising demand."

The disciplinary figures, including 3,020 suspensions and 40 expulsions of five-year-olds, show boys were three times more likely to be suspended than girls and four times more likely to be expelled. Physical attacks took place 80,400 times, threats or verbal abuse 82,600 and there were 3,900 records of specifically racist abuse.

Permanent exclusions for all disciplinary offences were down by 810 on the previous year and there were 31,900 fewer suspensions or limited-period exclusions (331,380 in 2009-10, down from 363,280 in 2008-09). But the most common cause of exclusion remained persistent disruptive behaviour, which accounted for 23.8% of suspensions and 29% of expulsions.

Edward Duff, of the Children's Legal Centre at Essex University, said: "Every case of persistent disruption in my experience has led to SEN involvement and we need to find out more about how much screening for behavioural difficulties and special needs is going on. We also need to keep a special eye on 'zero tolerance' discipline, which some of the new academies make much of, to be sure that checking for special needs and other problems is part of the approach."

The schools minister, Nick Gibb, said: "Weak discipline remains a significant problem in too many of our schools and classrooms, and tackling poor behaviour and raising academic standards are key priorities for the coalition government. We will back headteachers in excluding persistently disruptive pupils, which is why we are removing barriers which limit their authority.

"We have already introduced a series of measures to put headteachers and teachers back in control of the classroom – including clearer guidance and increased search powers. Through the education bill we are introducing further measures to strengthen teacher authority and support schools in maintaining good behaviour."

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the figures showed schools were using exclusion where appropriate and it was "disingenuous and worrying" for Gibb to claim that the coming bill would empower schools to use exclusion more. She said: "Whilst it is absolutely right that teachers and support staff should be able to do their jobs without fear of assault, exclusion should always be a last resort.

"There needs to be far more support and resources provided by government to prevent such serious incidents from occurring, investment in staff development and support for pupils so that behaviour problems are dealt with effectively rather than allowed to escalate into serious incidents."

Sara Gadzik, of the Association for School and College Leaders, said: "The figures prove that schools are already tough on discipline and that poor behaviour is not tolerated in classrooms. Pupils who disrupt the learning of their classmates are dealt with firmly and, in many cases, a short suspension is an effective way of nipping bad behaviour in the bud."

Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said: "It's what lies behind the figures, rather than the figures themselves, which should be the focus of attention. There is a danger that exclusion will be used more and more by schools as local authority behaviour support and pupil support services and early intervention strategies are savagely cut and school budgets are reduced."

• This article was amended on 2 August 2011. A dropped word left the original suggesting that the 2009-10 total for suspensions or limited-period exclusions was 31,900. This has been corrected.